My Secret Pal rocks out!
Unfortunately, I can’t show you exactly how much she rocks, because the husband took the digital camera with him out of town. I am going to try very, very hard not to spoil this package until he gets back tomorrow night!
Great package, pal!
My daughter has class pictures tomorrow, and I had mentioned to her that we could go get a dress today for that. We ran out of time, so I went out and picked her up a cute skirt and shirt tonight after she went to bed. She really did need a new one, because she has grown four inches in the past year. I kid you not. She’s six years old, 55 pounds, and 4’1″ now.
The problem is, I got a size eight skirt (the correct size) but had picked up a size eight shirt, put it down, shopped around, then apparently picked up a size four before checking out. I think the shopkeeper straightened it back into the pile, and I didn’t notice. It was not her fault, though, it was mine, since I should have confirmed it was right before buying it. So now my daughter has a very cute skirt and shirt combo, with the shirt two sizes too small. I picked up some groceries after getting her outfit, so the shop was long closed by the time I noticed at 9:30.
Let’s hope she still fits into one of her two summertime dresses. I can’t believe I did that. I’m going to be kicking myself all night.
Paraphrasing for the announcement on their website, Donors Choose was one of the smallest organizations in a group of finalists selected from nearly 1,000 applicants for the Nonprofit Innovation Award offered through Amazon.com. The finalist which raised the most money through Amazon.com had the opportunity to have the money it raised doubled.
Donors Choose won the Innovation Award by raising $790,000, all through gifts of $1,000 or less. Every one of those dollars will go to classroom needs posted on the Donors Choose web site. And the donations made will be matched by Amazon.com, bringing the total to over $1.5 million.
The wearwithstyle.com contest raised about 300 bucks, through the generosity of knitters. I know it was a close contest between Donors Choose and the next runner-up. Therefore, I personally choose to believe that it was knitters who put Donors Choose over the top.
Donor prizes are in the mail for the most part, although a few are still being packed. Way to go, guys, this is thrilling news. 🙂
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Today my ball winder started making a loud PAK PAK PAK noise while I was winding off yarn, which means I can’t wind off yarn now while my daughter is asleep. Now I’ll have to investigate getting a new one. Hopefully cheap.
Can we have ONE FREAKING MONTH where one of the cats doesn’t break down?
Yeah, I said cats. You heard me.
Stupid orange pumpkin.
ETA: Here’s what was wrong with her. The faint of stomach should probably not read this.
They thought it was – and I am not making this up – abcessed anal glands. Yes, our little 17-pounder is now so fat that she cannot clean herself, and instead lies around with one leg in the air, displaying herself for the entire world to see.
We know she should lose weight. However, I feel we have to tend to the needs of the worst off cat in the house, namely the black and white one in the picture. He is diabetic and cannot afford to switch to a low-calorie diet. And I do not have the time or energy to maintain a rigorous feeding schedule in which one of them gets locked in the bathroom while the other one eats, and then vice versa. So the cat’s just going to have to stay fat until the black and white one kicks it.
Fortunately, her glands were not abcessed. Her nether region was just really, really filthy. As a result, she was quite pinkish red and raw down around her anus and vulva. We had cleaned her some last night, but apparently it was still filthy. Like, Exxon Valdez filthy. Like, requiring professional care filthy. As the vet said, “she’s gonna want to be sedated for this.”
Anyway, they got her cleaned up, and now I have antibiotic pills to give her twice a day, and also a salve that I have to rub around her anus two or three times a day for a few days until she’s not so raw.
I love animals, I really do, but this is the same little freak of nature that cost us $3000 in vet bills last Thanksgiving. And now I’m smearing diaper cream on her ass.
You know anybody who wants a cat?
That’s right, my Boo is the babe with the bling. Thanks, Nana!
(Those are clip-on earrings, by the way. No pierced ears for my girl yet!)
This post in the knitting community made me feel all better. I think I will re-write that Poof pattern, and maybe send it back to the straw.com people. And post it to our fabulous
…but I didn’t exactly help. It’s this baby hat pattern from Crystal Palace, calling for their extremely soft and chunky “Poof” yarn. It’s kind of like Berroco’s “Plush” on steroids with dark hair growth as a side effect. I realized last night that a friend was throwing a birthday party for her 1-year-old daughter and I had nothing, and I wanted to do something slightly different than the 50 bazillion Jayne hats I’ve done mostly in a row. The pattern calls for size 13 needles, so I knew it would be quick. Unfortunately, I made some basic mistakes.
Someone posted the hat she made from a kit today. That’s the second one I’ve seen from the “live” version of the pattern. I’m relieved to see that these look very good, and that the yarn and instructions are working out well.
I always wind off more yarn than I probably need to, because I don’t want the person to get nervous that they’ll run out, and also to give the knitter the opportunity to make it super-big if they want. I also stick in a tiny little secret toy surprise, usually a sticker or something else very compact. I guess I just like picturing the person as they’re opening the package and making the item. Feels like we’re all part of the same community.
Which, technically, we are, I know. 🙂
ETA: If you’re looking for the kit, it’s $17 and you can see some info at http://www.wearwithstyle.com/hat5.html Or drop me a line at style at booboomonkey dot com . It really is a good deal – if you bought three skeins of Lamb’s Pride bulky retail, you’d pay $7 a skein. You don’t need a full skein, so why pay that?
Ten Jayne hats and ten Jayne hat kits in the queue.
It’s like Adam Baldwin exploded all over my work space.
I swear to God, I thought demand would go down after the premiere. I’m glad to be wrong, as I believe it means people are getting into Firefly as a result of Serenity. Which, by the way, was excellent, and you should go see it if you haven’t already done so. And even if you have.
I’m not complaining about the work, I’m just saying. Five more orders until we’re at 100 Jayne-related sales. Unbelievable.
In business news, an old work friend from WJZY’s business office is helping me out by looking into what all is required to go totally legit. She’s a good person whom I like and respect, so I’m glad to have her input. Yay for contacts!
In Dragonrealms, we’re gearing up for some end of October parties that look to be tres fun.
